New front opened in browser war

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A new front has been opened in the long-dormant browser war,
with the open source browser Firefox aiming to challenge
Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer.

The Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit group "dedicated to
preserving choice and promoting innovation on the Internet,"
announced the release this week of its Firefox 1.0 browser after
issuing a preview version last month downloaded by some eight
million people.

Although Explorer, integrated into the Windows operating system
used on most personal computers, has dominated the browser market,
recent security problems have prompted renewed interest in other
browsers.

In early November, Computerworld reported that Firefox's market
share had risen to six percent. Among early adopters, 14 percent of
visitors to Computerworld's website were using Firefox, according
to the online magazine.

As an open-source product, Mozilla's source code is available to
computer experts, who can test and offer improvements to the
software.

It is available as a free download worldwide for computers with
the Windows, Macintosh or Linux operating systems.

"We are delighted to be announcing this major milestone for the
Mozilla Foundation and for the Firefox browser, which has been made
possible thanks to the tireless effort of hundreds of community
volunteers and developers around the world," commented Mitchell
Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation.

"Now, millions more will be able to enjoy a better web
experience."

Firefox features include tabbed browsing to allow several pages
to be contained within a single window, accessibility to search
engines and pop-up blocking.

It also claims to help protect against some fraud schemes by
displaying the true identity of sites in an effort to thwart
"spoofed" sites mimicking a legitimate website.